Robert Banner
Dr. Robert Bruce Banner is a genius scientist, who was involved in an accident involving intense levels of gamma radiation, which causes him to transform into the Hulk whenever he is stressed, enraged or seriously injured. After defeating the Abomination in Manhattan, Bruce attempted to seclude himself and control when he would turn into the Hulk. After being recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to find the location of the Tesseract, he joined the fray during the Battle of New York and became a founding member of the Avengers. Biography Early life Bruce was born on December 18, 1969. At Harvard, Bruce met Betty Ross. They begin dating and at one point volunteer for an experiment involving hallucinogenics. Later Bruce became a leader in gamma radiation research, and once worked with Erik Selvig for a brief period. In 2006, Betty's father, general Thaddeus Ross enlisted Bruce in a military research group to apparently make soldiers more resistant to radiation (in reality, Ross was hoping Bruce would perfect a recreation of the original Super Soldier Serum). But when testing the experiment on himself, he was transformed into the Hulk and hospitalized Betty and injured her father. Ross decided to have Bruce dissected in order to recreate the Hulk for mass use, however, Bruce instead went on the run, knowing that the Hulk and it's power could not be controlled. At tail's end, Bruce tried to kill himself with a gun, but Hulk emerged and stopped him first. He would then spend the next 5 years running from country to country, looking for a cure while continuously being pursued by Ross. ''The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files Bruce Banner was drinking in a bar when Nick Fury, who came to the bar to see what Banner could do when he turns into the Hulk in attempt to find a Super Soldier for S.H.I.E.L.D., spoke to him. As planned, Fury and two other undercover agents were able to make Banner turn into the Hulk, Hulk escapes the bar. The Incredible Hulk: The Big Picture Sometime after his accident, Banner spoke to Ross about the accident and revealed to Ross that he will find a cure, Ross refuses to allow him to get a cure, but Banner disobeys him and runs away. While on the run, he hid on a truck heading to Canada, where he was arrested by the police as the truck was passing by the borders, Banner ended up transforming into the Hulk and causing alot of mess The Incredible Hulk Now a fugitive from the United States, Banner worked in a soft drink bottling factory in Brazil while attempting to find a cure for his condition with the help of an Internet friend known to him as "Mr. Blue". To prevent another transformation, Banner underwent rigorous meditation to control his emotions and keep his pulse at a steady level. One day, "Mr. Blue" requested that Banner send him a sample of blood, which through some tests revealed a potential cure. However, Blue needed the data that changed him first in the first place. After Banner suffered a cut, a drop of his blood landed into a bottle of soft drink, which was eventually drank by an ill-fated consumer. Following this, General Ross discovered his location and sent Emil Blonsky and a special forces team to apprehend him. While trying to evade the special forces, Banner was attacked by thugs and became the Hulk. The Hulk killed some of the thugs and the special forces team and escaped, leaving Blonsky unharmed. Banner wakes up in Guatemala, dazed by the experience and eventually makes his way to Culver University in the United States, where a now-recovered Betty was dating psychologist Doctor Leonard Samson. Unable to access his old lab to retrieve the data, he sees his old friend Stanley, a pizzeria owner, for a place to stay and a job as a delivery boy. Banner used this job to sneak past a Culver University security guard to try and retrieve his research, only to discover it was gone. When preparing to head off once again, Betty visited the pizzeria and spotted Banner, who fled to try and avoid her, however they later reunited, and he elected to stay with her one night. Learning that she possessed the last of the data, he explained her father's plan for him, and why he must continue running. While getting ready to leave, the military arrived, and Blonsky, enhanced by some of the experimental serum Ross had tried to produce himself, led the assault. While trapped and gased, Banner was angered by some soldiers trying to restrain Betty, and transformed into the Hulk. Despite Blonsky's increased strength, speed and agility, the Hulk crushed most of the bones in Blonsky's body before absconding with Betty to Smokey Mountain National Forrest with Betty and keeping her safe from a firing gunship. Banner sends the data to "Mr. Blue", and he and Betty traveled to Manhattan to meet with "Mr. Blue", Dr. Samuel Sterns. Accompanying Sterns to his lab, Banner and Betty learned that Sterns had indeed developed a possible antidote that may reverse Banner's transformations, however it might only prevent the current occurrence and not future ones, and that an overdose could possibly kill him. Despite the risks, Banner agreed to try, and was shocked into transforming with electricity and then reverted to normal with an injection of the serum and Betty's calming words. Exhilarated by the success of the antidote, Sterns revealed that he had synthesized Banner's blood sample into a large supply, with the intention of using it to enhance the human condition to the next evolutionary level. Appalled and fearful of the the Hulk's power falling into the wrong hands, Banner attempted to convince Sterns to destroy the blood supply when he was shot by a tranquilizer from one of General Ross' snipers, while Blonksy, further enhanced by Ross's serum, attacked Banner in an attempt to get him to transform but couldn't. As Banner was taken into custody, Blonsky, desperate for more power, confronted Sterns and demanded he subject him to a dose of the Banner's gamma radiation treatment. As a result, Blonsky mutated into a hideous titan, the Abomination, and went on a rampage in the city. Banner, realizing that he was the only one who could stop the Abomination, convinced General Ross to release him, and jumped out of Ross' helicopter, hoping the fall would stimulate a transformation. Banner's plans succeeded, and after a violent, pitched battle the Abomination was defeated when the Hulk brutally strangled him with a huge chain, but was stopped from killing him by Betty. The Hulk then fled the scene with the army in hot pursuit. Thirty one days later, Banner was staying in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Instead of trying to suppress his transformations, he began attempting to initiate them in a controlled manner. As his eyes turned green, a grin appeared on his face. Iron Man 2 When Nick Fury debriefs Tony the screen on the right shows the report of the attack on Culver University which was in fact the Hulk. Thor Bruce was mentioned by Erik Selvig and he declared he once knew him as a pioneer in gamma radiation until S.H.I.E.L.D. showed up, and he hadn't been heard from since. Fury's Big Week S.H.I.E.L.D. were monitoring Banner's movements. Both Agent Sitwell and Agent Romanoff were assigned to watch over him. The Consultant According to Phil Coulson, General Ross and the World Security Council blamed Banner for the battle with Blonsky, due to his anger issues and believing he had forced Blonksy to fight. ''The Avengers Initiative Bruce Banner heads to Afghanistan, then Pakistan and then India and is attacked by some Mercenary Bandits. He becomes the Hulk and attacks them. ''Black Widow Strikes S.H.I.E.L.D. continued to observe Banner's actions and is glimpsed on their screens. The Avengers Eventually relocating to Calcutta, India, Banner found a new direction for himself acting as an unregistered physician, helping people in poverty-stricken slums. No longer obsessed with finding a cure for himself, he had gained peace of mind in helping others. One night while working, he found himself lured into a meeting with Natasha Romanoff, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., who requested his help in locating the Tesseract, an object of limitless power that had fallen into the possession of Loki. Though initially dubious and suspecting that S.H.I.E.L.D. was really after his green alter ego, Banner eventually relented and agreed to Romanoff's request. After meeting Steve Rogers/Captain America, the original subject of the super-soldier serum, he began working on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier to track the location of the Tesseract, by attempting to locate the gamma radiation it emitted, working with Tony Stark, the industrialist also known as "Iron Man". Stark attempted to get a reaction out of Banner in the hope of seeing his alter-ego, however Banner was able to remain in control of himself. Though Loki was captured and refused to cooperate, Banner suspected that there was more to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agenda. Soon the clash of personalities within the assembled group provided a constant source of tension for all and Banner was subjected to frequent reminders of his need to contain the beast within. Clint Barton, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent under Loki's control, led an attack against the Helicarrier. Explosions from the attack caused debris from the ceiling to rain down on Banner, injuring him and triggering the change into the Hulk despite Romanoff's attempts to calm him down. He rampaged around the vessel, hunting Romanoff, before he turned his attention to Thor, and the Asgardian actually proved a challenge to the Hulk. Finally, a S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot in a fighter jet outside got his attention by shooting him through a window, causing the Hulk to leap out and attack it, before falling to Earth. Banner awoke in the blasted remnants of a warehouse and was greeted by a lone security guard who had seen his alter-ego, and offered him clothing. Following disturbances into New York City, where Loki had opened a dimensional rift with the Tesseract, Banner located his superhuman acquaintances assembling to counter the threat. Although wary of another transformation, they insisted that he would be a help. Banner obliged, triggering a controlled transformation, then together with the others, he turned his attention on the Chitauri invasion force pouring through the portal. The Hulk did indeed prove to be an asset to the group; not only did he single-handedly kill the first of the Chitauri Leviathans, he was an unstoppable force in dealing with the alien warriors. Eventually he managed to single-handedly subdue Loki, and caught Stark as he fell from the closing portal, and roared to wake him up, before joining the rest of the team in confronting Loki. Long after the battle was over, Banner, now back to normal again, gathered with the others in Central Park to see off Thor and the captive Loki. The threat neutralized, Banner and the remaining heroes said their goodbyes and parted company, with Banner departing with Stark. Iron Man 3 Prelude After Loki was defeated, James Rhodes arrived in New York to help out Tony. Rhodes located Stark in a Shawarma restaurant where he was introduced to Bruce and the other Avengers. Iron Man 3 Tony Stark is talking to someone about his traumas including the Mandarin and Aldrich Killian incident. This person is revealed to be Bruce Banner sitting across from him, who has awoken after having fallen asleep during Tony's story. Captain America: The Winter Soldier Bruce was targetted by the undercover HYDRA agents on SHIELD as a potential threat for their plans. ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Well" To be added "The Only Light in the Darkness" To be added "One Door Closes" Banner is mentioned as the builder of the retreat out in the woods. The retreat is coated in Vibranium and the Hulk was able to make a dent in it. ''Avengers: Operation HYDRA ''To be added ''Avengers: Age of Ultron Hulk raided a HYDRA base with the Avengers. While Iron Man inspected the base from inside, Black Widow calmed down Hulk turning him back into Banner. Later at the Avengers Headquarters, Tony Stark had an idea about creating a robot called Ultron for the world's safety. It takes time for Banner to agree with this project. The Avengers tries to ambush the hideout of Ultron, but the Scarlet Witch controls the minds of Captain America, Thor, Black Widow and Hulk. While Captain America and Thor are hallucinating, the Hulk went on a rampage. Tony Stark put on his Hulkbuster armor and fought Hulk, trying to restrain him. Even a capsule made of pure titanium could not stop the Hulk. Iron Man threw Hulk into a building. Back to normal, Banner regretted everything he had done. Banner rescued Black Widow who had been trapped by Ultron, but he transformed into the Hulk and to destroy a great number of Ultron drones. Hulk punched Ultron into the sky and then boarded a quinjet and headed to somewhere unknown, ignoring Black Widow's hail on the comms. Thor: Ragnarok Two years passed since Ultron was defeated and the Hulk found himself on Sakaar where he became a popular gladiator fighter and the champion for the Grandmaster. During that time, the Hulk never transformed back into Banner; everyone on the planet assumed that the Hulk was just the Hulk. He also developed the ability to communicate with words. He then challenged Thor, who ended up on Sakaar after being forced there by Hela and captured by Brunnhilde and forced to fight for his freedom. Thor attempted to have Hulk turn back into Banner to avoid fighting him but ended up being forced to fight the Hulk after the Hulk thrashes him around. Hulk only won after the Grandmaster shocked Thor . After the fight, Thor was brought to Hulks room. Hulk showed him where the Quinjet was, still in perfect condition. At some point, the Quinjet passed through one of many space warps and landed Hulk on Sakaar. After unknowingly helping Thor escape to the Quinjet, he went after Thor to get him to stay, heavily damaging the aircraft in the process. Thor stopped him by playing Natasha's last recorded transmission. This recording triggers the transformation back to Banner despite some resistance from Hulk. Banner became stressed after realizing he stayed the Hulk for a full two years; he feared that, if he ever became the Hulk again, he might not ever transform back to Banner. Despite the fear, he became the Hulk on Asgard in order to fight the Fenris wolf. After a raging battle, Hulk knocked Fenris off the edge of Asgard. The Hulk returned to the bridge to see Surtur beginning Ragnarok on Asgard.He didn't realize that Thor revived Surtur on purpose and wanted him to destroy Asgard to defeat Hela. Thor and Brunnhilde eventually got Hulk to not fight Surtur; Hulk got them all on the departing ship with Loki, the Gladiators and the Asgardians as Asgard was destroyed. Thanos and the Black Order attacked the ''Statesman, which was carrying the surviving Asgardians, so they could take the Tesseract and the Space Stone within. After they killed or otherwise subdued most of the Asgardians on board, Loki unleashed the Hulk. Hulk piled into Thanos and to his complete surprise, Thanos beat him to within an inch of his life. A badly injured Heimdall used the last of his power to create a Bifrost Bridge and sent an unconscious Hulk away from the battle and back to Earth. Thanos killed Hemidall and Loki and destroyed the ship, seemingly killing the rest of those on board, including Thor. Back on Earth, Hulk crash landed in the New York Sanctum Sanctorum and reverted back to Bruce Banner. He warned Dr. Strange about Thanos' plan to kill half the universe. Strange recruited Iron Man to help when a Q-Ship descended over New York to retrieve the Time Stone. Peter Parker saw the fight and changed to Spider-Man to help. Banner tried unsuccessfully to turn into the Hulk and join the fight, but the Hulk refused to come out. Banner contacted Steve to warn him about Thanos. In Wakanda, Steve reunited with Bucky Barnes before Thanos' army arrived. The Avengers, alongside T'Challa and the Wakandan forces, mounted a defense while Shuri worked to extract the Mind Stone from Vision. Banner, unable to transform into the Hulk, puts on Tony Stark's Hulkbuster armor. Thor severely wounded Thanos, but Thanos activated the complete Infinity Gauntlet and teleported away. Thanos' plan succeeded, with half of all life across the universe disintegrating, including Barnes, T'Challa, Groot, Maximoff, Wilson, Mantis, Drax, Quill, Strange, and Parker. Stark and Nebula remained on Titan while Banner, Okoye, Rhodes, Rocket, Rogers, Romanoff, M'Baku, and Thor were left in Wakanda. ''Captain Marvel ''To be added ''Avengers: Endgame Three weeks after the Decimation, Banner was relieved when Carol Danvers rescued Tony Stark and Nebula and returned them to Earth. Banner joined the mission to take the Infinity Stones from Thanos and use them to restore everyone lost in the Decimation. Still unable to transform into the Hulk, Banner once again donned the repaired Hulkbuster 2.0 armor. During the confrontation with Thanos, Banner burst through the floor and held down one of the Mad Titan's arms, only to learn that Thanos had destroyed the Infinity Stones to prevent their use ever again. Thanos was then decapitated by Thor, leaving the surviving Avengers with no way of bringing back everyone they lost. Five years later, after Scott Lang returned from the Quantum Realm with the idea to use it to time travel, Banner was called upon to help make the time travel possible. In the five years since the Decimation, Banner had realized that the Hulk wasn't the problem but the solution and through further gamma experimentation, managed to combine his intellect with the Hulk's body. Banner created a time machine, but it instead manipulated Lang to turn into various ages as Banner accidentally sent time through Lang instead of the other way around. However, Stark returned, having decided to help and figured out how to properly time travel. Banner subsequently joined the mission to 2012 where he was to collect the Time Stone. After witnessing the 2012 Hulk, Banner awkwardly tried to imitate his past self's behavior, but was unable to fake the Hulk's pure ferociousness. Banner traveled to the Sanctum Sanctorum in search of Stephen Strange, but found the Ancient One instead. To keep Banner from hurting her, the Ancient One pulled his astral form from Banner's physical body, causing Banner's spirit to resume his original human form. Though sympathetic, the Ancient One refused to help as removing the Infinity Stones from her timeline would doom it, demonstrating to Banner the multitude of possible alternate futures it could cause. Banner suggested they could return the Stones to the exact moment they were taken and after revealing how Strange willingly gave up the Time Stone, the Ancient One agreed to give it to Banner on the condition the Avengers return all of the Stones to their proper times when they were done with them. At the same time, following the defeat of Loki, 2012 Stark forced the 2012 Hulk to use the stairs of Stark Tower instead of joining everyone else in the elevator due to weight limits. The Hulk was left enraged and frustrated by having to climb down so many stairs. When the Hulk finally reached the lobby, he burst through the stairwell door, interrupting the 2023 Stark and Lang's attempt to steal the Tesseract. As a result of the mishap with the Hulk, Loki stole the Tesseract and escaped with it. After returning to the present, Banner was devastated to learn that Natasha Romanoff had sacrificed herself so that Clint Barton could get the Soul Stone. When a Gauntlet was created to hold the Infinity Stones, Banner insisted on being the one to use it as the Stones mainly emitted Gamma Radiation and he was the only one who could survive it. Though the Stones caused him intense pain, Banner snapped his fingers and used the Stones to reverse the Decimation, resurrecting everyone who had been disintegrated by Thanos. Banner's right arm was severely injured in the process and Stark quickly covered it with his nanite spray. After the 2014 Thanos destroyed the New Avengers Facility, Banner remained trapped underground with James Rhodes and Rocket Raccoon, struggling to hold up a slab of rock. The three were eventually rescued by Scott Lang and joined the final battle with Thanos' army which ended when Stark sacrificed himself to use the Infinity Stones to disintegrate Thanos and his army. In the aftermath of the final battle, Banner attended Stark's funeral where he told Steve Rogers that he'd tried as hard as he could to use the Stones to resurrect Romanoff, but couldn't. Banner later coordinated Steve's return of the Infinity Stones and Mjölnir to their own times and was shocked when Rogers didn't return on schedule. As Banner tried to figure out what had gone wrong, Bucky Barnes directed Sam Wilson to where an elderly Rogers, having decided to stay in the past, sat nearby. Character traits As Bruce Banner In ''The Incredible Hulk, Bruce is a mild-mannered, mysterious, shy and analytical man of science. The incident at Culver University caused Bruce to become somewhat mentally troubled and obsessed with finding a cure for his mutation. He is compassionate and afraid of hurting someone unintentionally, so he tries not to get close to something or someone that leaves him stressed. He supplemented his scientific pursuit by learning meditation and breathing techniques, gaining a greater control over the transformations. When he transforms, his personality regresses to a more child-like state and he has little recollection of events after he returns to his normal human form. In The Avengers, Bruce is renowned to be a brilliant scientist in the fields of nuclear and chemical sciences, to such an extent that he was called upon to track down the Tesseract. He is highly intelligent and calculating, and had a scientific mind which meant that his deductions were rarely wrong and commonly very precise. However, Bruce was, slightly suicidal because of his intense fear of what his transformations could do. This is shown when, in order to spare himself the inevitable shame of becoming genocidal and destructive and dangerous, he shot himself in the mouth in human form, only for his Hulk form to literally spit the bullet back out. In his earliest transformations, Bruce appeared as a savage with no real ability to distinguish friend from foe. Because of this, he was responsible for the deaths of two scientists, an army officer, an police officer from Idaho and two Canadian hunters when he was a fugitive. The Hulk gradually attained a better reasoning capacity over time, becoming able to show affection and demonstrating a capacity to work collaboratively with others. However, Bruce has been shown that out of all the Avengers, he is the one they respect, but fear, the most. Even Natasha, who always is calm in every situation, fears him as shown twice when she pull a gun on him in the hut when he appeared to lose his cool but in truth to see if she was truly alone or not and on the Helicarrier when they were blasted out of the lab and he transformed and attack her, showing terror in her face, very rarely does that happen with her. In Thor: Ragnarok, after finally returning to his human form, after being trapped in his superhuman form for 2 years, upon learning from Thor that he had been Hulk for 2 years, Bruce became afraid of Hulk once more, as transforming again would likely result in Hulk gaining full control and the ability to permanently suppress Bruce. In Avengers: Infinity War, ironically Bruce realizes that despite getting his wish of being cured of Hulk, this has left him vulnerable and unable to help his teammates directly as he has lost the strength gained from being Hulk. However, despite this, Bruce displays great courage by fighting in the Battle of Wakanda wearing the Hulkbuster armor, even facing Thanos again without fear. As Hulk In The Incredible Hulk, Hulk is constantly enraged and draws his strength from this rage. The angrier Hulk is the more powerful he becomes. This aspect of his physiology grants him virtually limitless strength. If Hulk calms down to a certain point, he reverts back to his human form. When Bruce would originally transform into Hulk, he would lose control of himself because of rage, adrenaline or stress, which hormonally stimulates the heart rate. The total time of transformation takes only seconds. Banner becomes Hulk with increase in heart rate or adrenal levels, suggesting that the true trigger mechanism into Hulk is far more psychological than physical. Bruce was unable to control the transformations, but while his consciousness is buried within Hulk's, he can influence Hulk's behavior only to a very limited extent such as when he was asked by Betty Ross not to kill his enemy. Hulk was also spurred by Betty's cries to resist the sonic weapons that were attacking him. In The Avengers, after over 4 years of training to control Hulk, Bruce learned that if he always remains in a controlled angry state, then he can easily change into Hulk at will. This type of transformation allows Hulk to be more intelligent and less enraged than an uncontrolled one. However, if Bruce is sent into a state of stress then he can lose control and transform against his will despite trying to control it; Hulk will revert back to a savage enraged state where he would attack anyone being friend or foe. In Thor: Ragnarok, after having stayed in his superhuman form for 2 years on Sakaar, Hulk has developed a calm and stable demeanor, which allows him to not solely act aggressive and hostile (despite his temper) such as when he talked calmly with Thor after the two of them argued and befriended Brunnhilde during his stay on the planet. Hulk has also become intelligent to the point of acknowledge his human-half, but repeatedly refuted Bruce's existence, claiming "No Banner, only Hulk!", he did this out of resentment and bitterness for Bruce. In Avengers: Infinity War, after taking a savage beating from Thanos, Bruce is unable to transform into Hulk, every time he tried, Hulk refused to manifest himself. Because Hulk has never lost a fight before; his experience and growing intelligence in Sakaar reinforced the idea and image so much that he believed himself to be invincible, no longer a primitive rage monster like when he first came into existence and now capable of grasping a wide spectrum of emotions, the defeat at Thanos' hands traumatized Hulk tremendously; he has since grown so fearful of the Titan and his forces that he outright leaves Bruce alone to fend for himself for the first time since his creation, to the extent staunchly refusing to transform and come out to fight even when told to. Powers and Abilities Powers *'Superhuman Physiology:' Due to an experimental procedure attempting to recreate the Super Soldier Serum, as well as being exposed to Gamma Radiation, Bruce permanently obtained superhuman physical attributes after his transformation as Hulk, making him one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe. He is capable of overpowering beings like Thor and the Abomination. **'Superhuman Strength:' Hulk possesses the capacity for virtually limitless physical strength. His immense immeasurable physical strength is capable of effortlessly defeating powerful monsters and villains, with a single, nonchalant punch (although this strength is not limited to punches) Hulk has perfect control over his strength, allowing him to handles gentle and fragile objects or easily do menial, delicate task that require dexterity. He can easily do feats like split a car in two, stop a Humvee in its tracks, and throw humans around like ragdolls. He took the entire engine of a Humvee and threw it into another Humvee. He knocked Emil Blonsky more than 100 ft with one kick, and threw a forklift truck like it was a softball. By clapping his hands he can make a shockwave that snuffs out fire. Hulk's immeasurable strength is directly proportional to his level of rage, excitement, stress, and necessity, the stronger/more dangerous the enemy/situation he faces the stronger he becomes thus he is always able to overpower anyone and anything. To date Hulk has never apparently been provoked into demonstrating a maximum output of strength, but since he possesses limitless strength, he probably has no upper limit. This is also displayed when seeing Betty in danger in the damaged helicopter; he outmuscled the Abomination to free himself. By rising his fists and arms and striking the ground (accompanied by one of his classic lines "Hulk Smash") he can create tremors of incredible force. He was the "ace in the hole" when the battle of New York happened, destroying scores of Chitauri troops, ships and Leviathans (taking one out with a single punch) he beat Loki senseless in Stark Tower, essentially taking him out of the fight. Hulk can inhale great quantities of air, and expel the air at great speeds, enough to knock down forests. He is capable of using his strength to turn anything in the environment around him into weapons or armor to use. Hulk was also powerful enough to apocalyptically hold his ground against the Hulkbuster armor, which is in itself, even for an Iron Man armor, extremely powerful - when their punches connected, they created brutal shockwaves. Though the fight was increasingly protracted and both combatants caused colossal amounts of damage to one another and their environment, Hulk clearly had the upper hand because Tony Stark had to desperately summon several spare pieces of the armor to replace pieces that Hulk had ripped off or destroyed. In both of his fights with Thor Odinson, Hulk was capable of harming him enough to make him bleed, lifting him off his feet and slamming him to the ground repeatedly, sending him flying with his blows and nearly defeating him, although on both fights Thor wasn't fighting his fullest and Hulk's ability to increase his strength with rage contributed to this. However, even Hulk proved to be no match for Thor at his full strength, as he was soundly beaten down after Thor unlocked his full powers briefly. When fighting Fenris Wolf, although he initially struggled against her, being lifted and throttled around the Asgardian Wolf's mouth, Hulk was ultimately able to win and punch her off him, hurling her into space. Against Thanos, Hulk was able to stagger Thanos a bit with his punches but the Mad Titan quickly proved to surpass his strength as Hulk's grip on him was removed with only mediocre effort on his part and he was swiftly beaten to a bloody pulp. **'Superhuman Durability:' Hulk's body possesses an incredible degree of resistance to physical and mental injury. Hulk's impervious to conventional blades, only Vibranium are the few known metals that can effectively pierce and penetrate his skin. This invulnerability extends to the optic system since bullets, grenade shrapnel, and Hawkeye's arrows, did not penetrate nor damage it. Hulk is able to withstand high caliber bullets, powerful energy blasts, pressures extremes, falls from orbital heights, maximized heat without blistering, maximized cold without freezing, and also massive impacts. Hulk has withstood several times the impact of ground zero nuclear explosions, and the crushing pressures of 100000Gs without suffering damage, harm, or trouble. He can even withstand weapons made from the Tesseract with no difficulty. Only beings with tremendous force or extremely powerful weapons can harm him. He was also capable of taking Thor's attacks, even precise full-power hits from Mjolnir, with minimal damage, although he was finally visibly harmed by blows from Thor using his full power, with his defeat having been inevitable had the Grandmaster not knocked out Thor. His durability changes parallel with his strength. The full extent of his durability is shown during his famous battle with the Hulkbuster, where he was smashed, thrown, dragged and catapulted through an entire city, which - funnily enough - only made him angrier. **'Superhuman Endurance:' Hulk's body generates no fatigue toxins during physical activity, granting him nigh limitless endurance in all physical activities. His stamina and vitality are inexhaustible and limitless. **'Superhuman Speed:' Hulk is capable of running faster than normal humans; Hulk could even surpass an aircraft while on land, he can swim at 100 knots, and keep up with Blonsky. He can move at eye-blurring speeds. **'Superhuman Reflexes:' Hulk possesses far more reflexes then normal humans; his reflexes have even been described as "lightning-fast reflexes", fast enough to capture mortar shells and missiles. **'Superhuman Leaping:' Hulk is able to a make 1000 miles-sized leaps that can be incredibly precise in landing. **'Superhuman Stamina:' Hulk has substantially greater endurance than a normal human, allowing him to run and fight for a long time. His enraged state, during a fight, allows him to maintain peak output for hours on end and still continue to become even stronger as his anger escalates. **'Superhuman Senses:' Hulk's senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and instincts, are heightened to superhuman levels and accuracy. Hulk possesses incredible perception, noticing even the smallest details. **'Environmental Adaptation:' Hulk can adapt to any environment, even airless space. Hulk can adapt to a wide diversity of hostile habitats. Hulk can harmonize his biological structure with the depths of the ocean. He can even speak in these inhospitable habitats. Hulk can eat, drink, breath and function normally in any environment. He does not need to eat, drink, or breath, and his ability to adapt to his environment is an inherent property, which is also enhanced and amplified by his rage, excitement, stress, and necessity. **'Accelerated Healing Factor:' Hulk displays an incredibly fast rate of regeneration, even able to molecularly rebuilt his body. This also grants him immunity to any illness and ageless immortality. Hulk heals rapidly from any injuries at a much greater rate than a normal human. After being bombarded with Chitauri weaponry, he only had a few minor bruises, and by the time he caught Stark out of the air, he was fully healed. Former Powers Transformation: After being exposed to gamma radiation, Bruce was able to transform between human and superhuman forms, initially, he could not control it, however, after 4 years of meditation training and emotional discipline, Bruce discovered that if he always remains angry (in a controlled way) he will be able to transform into Hulk at will. As of Avengers: Endgame, after Bruce merged himself and Hulk into one being, he is (permanently) trapped inside his superhuman form, thus; Bruce is longer able to transform between his human and superhuman forms. Powers Bestowed by the Infinity Gauntlet After equipping himself with the Infinity Gauntlet, Bruce was capable of utilizing the full power of the Infinity Stones. *'Resurrection:' Utilizing the power of the Infinity Stones, Bruce was able to resurrect everyone killed by Thanos in the Decimation. However, Bruce's ability to use this power had its limits and he could not resurrect Natasha Romanoff who had sacrificed herself to get the Soul Stone though he did try, nor could he resurrect those who had been killed by Thanos before the Decimation. Abilities *'Genius-Level Intellect:' Bruce is an extremely intelligent individual, famous for being one of the foremost geniuses of his generation, comparable to someone of Tony Stark's level of intellect. Phil Coulson also compares him to Stephen Hawking. Bruce also became disciplined in emotional intelligence, employing meditative breathing techniques and anger management to better control his pulse rate and thus his transformations. *'Master Scientist:' Bruce is a vastly knowledgeable and accomplished scientist, the world's foremost master scientist in fields such as Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, Bio-Organics and, especially, Gamma Radiation: in all those fields even Tony Stark acknowledged him as being superior and praised his work on anti-electron collisions as being unparalleled. Due to this, he was included into the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project and developed a far superior form of enhancing but dramatically violent form of Super Soldier Serum that caused him to become the Hulk. Bruce's expertise in Bio-Organics also made him the only one who could help Stark program J.A.R.V.I.S into Vision. After 18 months in a Gamma lab, Bruce was able to fuse his genius-level intellect and knowledge with the Hulk's extraordinary superhuman abilities together to become an amalgamation of both Hulk and himself. He is experienced in the fields of computers and engineering as well. Hence Bruce was able to help Tony construct the Hulkbuster, create the Ultron AI, and download J.A.R.V.I.S. into the Vision android. As a consultant of S.H.I.E.L.D, he also created several highly established and last-resort used scientific artifacts for them to use such as Tetrodotoxin B and Gamma Power Reserve. *'Physician:' Bruce possesses enough medical knowledge to help the sick and injured, while living in India. *'Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist:' Bruce learned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and basic meditative breathing techniques in Brazil from a hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist expert. As Hulk, while having no formal training, is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist; simply due to his superhuman physical attributes. He typically uses street fighting and brawling techniques that make full use of his strength, and also employs pieces of his immediate environment to fight with, often using them as range projectiles to strike distant targets, while sometimes for melee attacks or protection. In Thor: Ragnarok, after being a gladiator on Sakaar for 2 years, Hulk's hand-to-hand combat and martial arts skills have improved greatly, becoming unbeatable coupled with his unsurpassed strength; as seen by how he was able to fight Thor Odinson, who is a master hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist in his own right, and had earlier outmatched him in skill easily, much better than before, able to pressure the latter when blocking his attacks and land some blows, but he ultimately proved to be outclassed by Thor and it was only a surprise attack to briefly overpower him and once Thor used his full power, had not been for the Grandmaster's cheating, he would have soundly been defeated. However, in Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos used his far superior combat experience to soundly dispatch Hulk, without Hulk being able to provide any resistance. *'Expert Tactician:' Over the years, Bruce has become an expert in developing strategies to go unnoticed and run from the government and military, using his intellect to quickly evaluate his surroundings and develop escape strategies. He has also become very skilled at going undercover. *'Multilingualism:' When he lived and traveled in South America, Bruce demonstrated some knowledge in Portuguese and Spanish. He also demonstrated fluency in Hindi, as seen during his time in Kolkata. *'Intimidation:' As the Hulk, Bruce commands an intimidating presence to the point where the majority of the world and many of his enemies fear him; even Thaddeus Ross, Natasha Romanoff and Loki Laufeyson respectively are terrified of him. *'Speech:' Initially, Hulk had limited communication skills, as he rarely spoke to others, most of the time he communicated with others with roars and gestures, much like any animal would. In Thor: Ragnarok, after having stayed in his superhuman form for 2 years on Sakaar, Hulk's ability to speak has improved enough for him to have conversations with others, such as with Thor Odinson and Brunnhilde, however, he still cannot form complete sentences yet. As of Avengers: Endgame, after Bruce merged himself and Hulk into one being; he is now can form complete sentences. *'Intimidation:' Hulk commands an intimidating presence to the point where the majority of the world and many of his enemies fear him, even Thaddeus Ross, Natasha Romanoff and Loki Laufeyson respectively are terrified of him. Weaknesses *'Lack of Shapeshifting:' After Bruce merged himself and Hulk into one being, he is (permanently) trapped inside his superhuman form, thus; Bruce can no longer change back into his human form. Former Weaknesses *'Emotional State:' If Bruce becomes too angry or excited, he will involuntarily transform into the Hulk, a savage enraged state where he would attack anyone being friend or foe, but if he always remains in a controlled angry state, then he can easily change into Hulk at will. This type of transformation allows Hulk to be more intelligent and less enraged than an uncontrolled one. However, in Avengers: Infinity War, following Hulk's defeat at the hands of Thanos; Bruce is unable to transform into his superhuman alter-ego, regardless if he gets angry on purpose or by accident; as Hulk refuses to come out. As of Avengers: Endgame, Bruce is no longer susceptible to transforming involuntarily, as he has managed to permanently turn himself into Hulk; while fully remaining himself. Equipment *'Stretchable Pants:' After the Battle of New York, Bruce became a consecrated member of the Avengers, he acquired a uniform with the main feature of stretching to fit his Hulk physique after his transformations. He uses a pair of trousers made with a flexible microfiber fabric, the material of which was shown to be extremely durable on several occasions, like when the team attacked the HYDRA Research Base, Bruce turned back into the Hulk with his pants still intact. *'Battle Axe:' As Bruce became a gladiator, the Hulk had gained a large special metallic battle axe that suitable to his own size. *'Hammer:' With Bruce as a gladiator, the Hulk had also obtained a special metallic war hammer that aids him with battling others in the arena. After the Culver University's incident, Bruce used several pieces of equipment while he was a fugitive. Some of these were destroyed or confiscated by United States Armed Forces. To prevent clues, Bruce avoided the use of credit card, identity documents and phones. The materials he used included; *'Wrist-Mounted Cardiovascular Monitor:' A gauge used to monitor Bruce's heart rate, helping him to prevent a transformation into the Hulk. The first monitor was destroyed after Bruce's transformation in Brazil. The last one seen was given by Betty Ross and seized by United States Armed Forces. *'Laptop Computer:' A cheap laptop with an encrypted instant messaging software installed. Bruce used it to chat with "Mr. Blue" a.k.a. Samuel Sterns. Bruce always carried it in a backpack, so he could maintain a communication where he was. Relationships *Betty Ross - Ally and former lover. *Leonard Samson - Rival turned psychotherapist. *Rick Jones - Former student and ally. *Martina - Co-worker. *Stanley Lieber - Friend. *Avengers **Steve Rogers/Captain America - Friend and team leader. **Tony Stark/Iron Man - Close friend and teammate; deceased. **Thor Odinson - Close friend, rival and Teammate. **Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Teammate and former love interest; deceased. **Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Teammate. **Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver - Enemy turned ally and teammate; deceased. **Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch - Enemy turned ally and teammate. **Vision - Teammate; deceased. **Sam Wilson/Falcon - Teammate. **James Rhodes/War Machine - Teammate and friend. *Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel - Ally. *Guardians of the Galaxy **Rocket Raccoon - Former teammate and ally. **Nebula - Former teammate and ally. *Nick Fury - Ally. *Erik Selvig - Ally. *Thaddeus Ross - Ally turned enemy. *Samuel Sterns - Former ally. *Emil Blonsky/Abomination - Enemy. *Loki Laufeyson - Enemy turned ally; deceased. *T'Challa/Black Panther - Ally. *Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier - Ally. *Chitauri - Enemies; deceased. *Ultron - Enemy; deceased. *Brunnhilde/Valkyrie - Friend and ally. *Thanos - Enemy; deceased. *Black Order **Corvus Glaive - Enemy; deceased. **Proxima Midnight - Enemy; deceased. **Cull Obsidian - Enemy and victim; deceased. *Ancient One (2012 version) - Ally; deceased. *Chitauri (2014 versions) - Enemies. *Outriders (2014 versions) - Enemies. Appearances/Actors *Marvel Cinematic Universe (12 films) **''The Incredible Hulk'' (First appearance) - Edward Norton and Lou Ferrigno (Voice) **''Iron Man 2'' (Cameo, footage from The Incredible Hulk) **''Thor'' (Mentioned only) **''The Consultant'' (Mentioned only) **''The Avengers'' - Mark Ruffalo **''Iron Man 3'' - Mark Ruffalo **''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' (Mentioned only) **''Avengers: Age of Ultron'' - Mark Ruffalo **''Captain America: Civil War'' (Mentioned only) **''Thor: Ragnarok'' - Mark Ruffalo **''Avengers: Infinity War'' - Mark Ruffalo **''Captain Marvel'' - Mark Ruffalo **''Avengers: Endgame'' - Mark Ruffalo *Marvel Cinematic Universe (2 TV series) **''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' ***Season 1 ****"Pilot" (Recycled Footage/Computer Monitor) ****"The Well" (Mentioned only) ****"The Only Light in the Darkness" (Mentioned only) ***Season 2 ****"Love in the Time of HYDRA" (Mentioned only) ****"One Door Closes" (Mentioned only) ****"Afterlife" (Mentioned only) ****"The Frenemy of My Enemy" (Mentioned only) **''Daredevil'' ***"Rabbit in a Snow Storm" (Newspaper photo) ***"Stick" (Newspaper photo) ***"Nelson v. Murdock" (Newspaper photo) ***"The Ones We Leave Behind" (Newspaper photo) **''Jessica Jones'' ***"AKA It's Called Whiskey" (Mentioned only) ***"AKA 99 Friends" (Mentioned only) **''Luke Cage'' ***"Moment of Truth" (Mentioned only) ***"Just to Get a Rep" (Mentioned only) **''Iron Fist'' ***"Immortal Emerges from Cave" (Mentioned only) *Marvel Cinematic Universe (9 comics) **''The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files'' **''The Incredible Hulk: The Big Picture'' **''Black Widow Strikes'' **''Fury's Big Week'' **''The Avengers: The Avengers Initiative'' **''Iron Man 3 Prelude'' **''Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle'' **''Avengers: Operation HYDRA'' Behind the scenes *The alternate opening to The Incredible Hulk where Banner attempts to commit suicide is referenced in The Avengers; when Banner begins to describe his "secret" to the other Avengers on the Helicarrier, he says "I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spat it out." *In the 2008 film, the character was played by Edward Norton; Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk with Bill Bixby, remarked Norton "has a similar physique, similar personality. Ed is a very fine actor and it adds tremendous credibility for him to be involved with the movie"Lou Ferrigno Says Hulk Cameo A 'Smash'. *According to Kurt Williams, the visual effects supervisor for the 2008 film, they decided it was important to make The Hulk a consistent size throughout the film. *In The Avengers, when Tony is viewing the the profiles of the other heroes, among them, a shot of Hulk lifting a humvee during the Culver University battle from The Incredible Hulk, the skin tone of the previous Hulk model was digitally altered to match the brighter hue of the newer Hulk model of the 2012 film. *For Hulk and The Incredible Hulk, the character is just a digital image, but for The Avengers, he is portrayed through performance motion-capture technology by Mark Ruffalo, who also portrays Bruce Banner. *During the Iron Man/Hulk fight in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Hulk was originally going to turn gray. *Regarding The Avengers, Joss Whedon declared that he focused the most on creating the Banner's character, trying to make him more similar to Bill Bixby's version of the character, always trying to help other people, than to Eric Bana's and Edward Norton's one, "obsessed" with curing himself. *Before Edward Norton was cast as Bruce Banner, actor David Duchovny was a front-runner for the film and Dominic Purcell was also rumored for the role. *Edward Norton was approached to play Bruce Banner in Hulk, but turned it down. *Before Mark Ruffalo was announced to be replacing Edward Norton, Joaquin Phoenix was rumored for the part. *Ruffalo was the first choice for Banner in The Incredible Hulk. *Ruffalo says Banner is a reluctant part of the team, and said his metamorphosis is as painful to the character as an addiction problem – even if he can sometimes be used for good. “The rage is something that is like going on a binger — you wake up after a blackout and you did all this f—ed up shit. Oh God, what did I do? And so we were talking about it like that, actually. At the beginning of The Avengers, “Banner starts like he's sober in a weird way. He's started a whole new life when we find him, and it's cool. Things don't stay that way, of course." Trivia *Edward Norton was originally set to reprise his role in The Avengers, but was fired after The Incredible Hulk was released. There are various theories as to why he was fired. It was initially reported that Norton was hard to work with but this was later proven to be false by Louis Leterrier. After being fired, Kevin Feige released a statement saying that Norton would be replaced with "a name actor" who shares a similar creative mind with the studio; Norton's estate responded that Feige's comments were "degrading" to the actor's image and that he is pleased to have worked with Marvel despite their differences. *Bruce has brief flashes on when he is in his Hulk state suggesting they're the same person. *There are several noticeable visual differences between The Hulk in The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers, despite the fact they are both in the same continuity. The Hulk in The Incredible Hulk is much taller and muscular then he is in The Avengers, and dark green skin, whereas in The Avengers he has brighter skin and a shorter hair cut. Their faces are also different. Much of these differences are because Mark Ruffalo is using motion-capture to actually play the Hulk, whereas Hulk was entirely CGI in The Incredible Hulk. *Bruce's screen time in The Avengers is 28:03. *Although being the only primary Avenger without a solo film in Phase Two, Mark Ruffalo reprises his role as Banner in a brief cameo during the post-credits scene for Iron Man 3. *''Iron Man 3'' marks the first time in a MCU film where Banner appears without turning into the Hulk. *''Iron Man 3'' also marks the first time that Banner has been played by the same actor in more than one film. *Bruce's screen time in Avengers: Age of Ultron is 23:55. Gallery :See: Hulk/Gallery ''The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files'' FuryBannermeet.jpg|Fury and Banner meet for the first time. FuryandHulk.jpg FuryandHulk2.jpg ''The Incredible Hulk'' edward_norton.jpg|Banner during the Gamma Experiment. Hulk, searching for cure.jpg Brucenorton.jpg|Banner as seen in the ''The Incredible Hulk'' played by Edward Norton. Bruce Banner.jpg| Bruce researching to find a cure. Bruce4.jpg 2008_the_incredible_hulk_005.jpg|Banner begins the transformation. 67374_edward-norton-as-scientist-bruce-banner-in-the-incredible-hulk.jpg|Banner is discovered at the university. edward-norton-as-bruce-banner-in-the-incredible.jpg|Bruce mid transformation as Samuel Sterns watches in awe. BannerTransformation-TIH.png|Bruce mid transformation as Samuel Sterns watches in awe. large_hulk.jpg|Bruce confers with Thunderbolt Ross. edward_norton3.jpg|Bruce with Betty Ross. Bruce Banner thumb.jpg|Bruce meditates. Promotion, Filming and Concept Art Bruce_Banner_-_Edward_Norton_-_The_Incredible_Hulk.jpg ''The Avengers'' Hulkshouse.jpg|Banner entering a shack. Bruce Banner Avengers.jpg|"What if I say no?". shack.PNG|SHIELD Agents surrounding Banner in a shack. hulkshack.PNG|SHIELD agents surround the shack that Banner has been lured to. avengersrussia0008layer.png|"STOP LYING TO ME!" Bruce Banner meets Steve Rogers.jpg|Bruce Banner meets Steve Rogers. Bruce banner hulk avengers.jpg|Bruce Banner. Bruce Ruffalo.jpg bannermeeting.PNG|Banner at the Avengers meeting. Banner.PNG|Doctor Banner consulting with S.H.I.E.L.D. 2038061-47_banner_stark_super.png|Bruce meets with Tony Stark. 4f21ed2b00cae.jpg|Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. Bruce and Tony.jpg|Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. BruceBanner_Avengers.jpg|Banner doing research. hbdffdgs.jpg mavengersfilmstillshaa1.jpg Bruce Banner Avengers 01.jpg|"We're not a team, we're a time bomb." TheAvengers-397.jpg Hulk transformation-avengers.JPG|Banner transforming into the Hulk. 2038065-48_getting_mad_super.png|Banner tries to make the concious effort to change into the Hulk. Promotion, Filming and Concept Art Mark+Ruffalo+Scarlett+Johansson+Films+Avengers+1N0g7gVaDTOl.jpg|Mark Ruffalo on set as Bruce Banner. Robert-Downey-Jr-Mark-Ruffalo-The-Avengers.jpg|Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner on set with Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark. Avengers Bruce Banner.jpg Bruce Banner Hulk Avengers.jpg|Promotional image. TheAvengers BruceBanner Poster.jpg Banner poster.JPG Bruce Hulk Banner.png|Bruce Banner Bio Wallpaper. imagebanner.jpg ''Iron Man 3 Prelude'' RhodeymeetstheAvengers.jpg|Banner meets Rhodey. ''Iron Man 3'' Banner Iron Man 3.jpeg|Banner talking to Tony Stark. BannerIM3.jpg ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'' BruceBanner_AOU.jpg Promotion, Filming and Concept Art Science Bros Banner-and-Stark.jpg ''Thor: Ragnarok'' Bruce Banner and Thor.jpg Promotion, Filming and Concept Art Thor - Ragnarok - Set - Mark Ruffalo - 1.jpg Thor - Ragnarok - Set - Mark Ruffalo - 2.jpg Thor - Ragnarok - Set - Asgard - August 8 2016 - 3.jpg ''Avengers: Infinity War'' Stark_and_the_bros.jpg Strange-Stark_Wong_and_Banner.jpg Rogers_Banner.jpg Promotion, Filming and concept art Fandago_Avengers_Infinity_War_mini_poster_team_1.jpg ''Avengers: Endgame'' Smart Hulk Endgame.png Promotion, Filming and Concept Art Endgame Character Posters 29.jpg References See Also *Hulk (disambiguation) Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Category:The Incredible Hulk characters Category:Avengers characters Category:Iron Man characters Category:Thor characters Category:Captain Marvel characters Category:Avengers members Category:S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists Category:Geniuses Category:Heroes Category:Superhumans Category:Characters affected by Gamma Radiation Category:Characters with Super Strength Category:Characters with Invulnerability Category:Characters with Super Speed Category:Characters with Super Agility Category:Characters with Shapeshifting Category:Characters with Accelerated Healing Factors Category:Characters with Martial arts skills